Silver
by Raziel12
Summary: The Schnee family has built an empire in mining and livestock. But powerful men have powerful enemies, and Miss Weiss Schnee is about to discover that her father's enemies are willing to do almost anything to bring her family down. Her only hope may be a hired hand with a past she'd rather leave behind. Western AU.


**Silver**

Weiss waved goodbye to the children at the orphanage and headed back toward her coach. The frontier could be a cruel place, and there were far too many orphans for her liking. Her father had never paid much attention to them. They were beneath his notice, but Weiss had never quite been able to bring herself to turn away.

As sheltered as she was because of her family's wealth, Weiss wasn't stupid. A bit of bad luck there, a bit of back luck here, and things could have turned out very differently for her family. If her grandfather, Nicholas Schnee, had chosen some other place to dig, he'd never have struck gold, and her family never would have built an empire in mining and livestock.

She sighed. Perhaps her sister had been right, after all. Winter had left to join the military, and although she still visited, Weiss could tell that things were strained between Winter and their father. Her older sister had taken her aside during her last visit and urged Weiss to be careful. Their father, Winter had claimed, had gone beyond merely being ruthless in his business dealings. There were whispers now of actual crimes being committed and hidden.

Weiss had wanted to deny it, had wanted to tell Winter that she wrong. But Weiss had seen her father change over the past several years. In the past, he had always celebrated his successes. Now, each success only made him hungrier for more, and she had seen his interactions with his fellow businessmen grow ever colder. If it wasn't for the power her family already wielded, she was doubtful anyone would do business with them at all.

But at least she could use her family's wealth to help others. Her father called it foolishness, so she hid any benevolent intentions she might have had behind a mask of practicality. Let him believe she was doing it to raise the reputation of the family. If that was what it took for her to help others, then that was what she would do.

The coach was just up ahead, and Weiss hurried toward it. She'd already stayed too long as it was, but a flicker of unease ran through her as she realised the rest of the street had gone quiet. She stopped and looked around. It was still a few hours until sunset. The street should still be bustling with activity. She moved forward cautiously, trying to get a better look at the other side of the carriage.

"Klein!" Weiss cried as she caught sight of the familiar figure slumped against the carriage. Her family's loyal butler appeared to be unconscious, and there was blood running down his face from a wound on his head. "Help!" she shouted, making her way to his side. "Help –"

"How about you quieten down, missy."

Weiss froze as a strong arm went around her throat. Her eyes widened, and she gathered herself to struggle.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Something pressed against her temple. It was the cold barrel of a gun. She stilled.

"Good," the voice was deep and rough in her ear. "Now, my friends and I are being paid very generously to bring you to our employer. He wants you alive, and he'd like it if we could manage it without busting you up. But, and here's the thing, we get paid either way, so you make trouble, you put up a fight, and we'll get nasty."

Weiss gulped as two more men stepped into view. They had a rugged look to them, their dark clothing dusty from travel. They had hard eyes too, the eyes of men who'd lived hard lives with no one to rely on except themselves.

"My father will pay you double what your employer is offering if you release me unharmed."

He laughed and yanked up, forcing her onto her tiptoes to keep from choking. "Maybe, but your father's a touchy bastard. We'll pay us, sure, and then put a bullet it in us the second we turn our backs. The man who hired us, he'll pay us, and he won't come after us either. And your father? By the time he finds out, we'll be long gone."

Barely able to breathe, Weiss tried to think. She could not let them take her because whoever had hired them could not possibly have honourable intentions toward her. It didn't help at all that Klein hadn't moved or made a sound. Was he dead? She hoped not. In many ways, Klein had been more of a father to her than her own father ever had.

"Do you mind if I ask what's going on?"

The man holding her turned, putting her between him and the new arrival. Weiss gasped, and her vision blurred. He must have sensed she was running out of air because his grip loosened just enough to let her breathe. The person who'd asked the question was a young woman.

She was dressed almost entirely in black. Her trousers were black, her boots were black, her hat was black, and even her shirt and coat were black. The only splash of colour was the blood-red handkerchief around her neck. Dimly, Weiss realised that she knew this woman.

A few weeks ago, her father had hired people to help with the cattle. This woman had been one of the last to get hired. She was young, Weiss remembered hearing from some of the other hired hands, maybe the same age as Weiss, but she was supposed to be a heck of a rider. They said she was quicker than the wind when she was in the saddle. She got along well with the other hired hands, and Weiss had seen her laughing and joking with some of them.

What was her name again? Silver. Yes, Weiss thought, that was what everybody called her because her eyes were the most remarkable silver colour.

"Who're you?" the man holding Weiss growled. "I told my boys to get this street cleared, and I knew they made themselves clear." The two other men laughed and pushed their coats back to show the guns dangling at their sides.

"I was running some errands in town," Silver replied. "And I thought I saw Miss Schnee's coach over here. I thought I'd drop by and see if they needed any help, seeing as how I work over at her family's ranch."

"Is that so?" The man flicked his head. "Get going now. This isn't any of your business, and there's no need for you to get hurt. It's the girl we're after, not you."

"Well, that's a problem, I'm afraid." Silver stepped forward, stopping as the other men began to reach for their guns. She couldn't have been more than five or six yards away. "I'm the kind of person that when someone hires me, I stay hired. And since I'm working for the Schnees, I can't just let you take Miss Schnee."

"You really going to die over this, girl?"

Silver straightened, and something in her changed. Instead of the cheerful, slightly childish hired hand Weiss could remember seeing, there was a woman in front of her now, a woman with eyes as keen as a razor and as hard as steel. There was nothing funny about her now, nothing cheerful. Her posture had Weiss thinking of a snake about to strike, and the smile on her face seemed forced, as though it were hiding a snarl.

"I won't be the one dying."

The men must have noticed it too because they looked between one another, and the one holding Weiss nodded slowly.

"I see. That's how it is. I can respect that. But I'm being paid real generously to bring Miss Schnee to my employer. I'm talking more money than a man like me could earn in a lifetime, never mind a year."

"Dead men don't need money," Silver replied.

"Which is why I have no intention of dying. I've fought plenty. I can tell danger when I see it. So how about this? I've got lien in my pocket right now. I know what they pay hired hands over at the Schnee ranch. It's nothing to get excited over. Walk away, and I'll give you triple what you'd earn in a season with them. Think about it. That's three season's of pay, easy as you like. All you have to do is walk away."

Weiss tried to speak, but the man behind her pulled his arm flush against her throat, and she choked on the words. She knew what people were like. Three season's of pay was a lot of money.

"Not sure? Think about this then," the man said. "Once you're done with this season, you're out of a job. Maybe they hire you again next season, maybe they don't. Either way, you're not sure. And so why if they hire you? Ranch work is hard work, messy work too. There's mud and muck and no shortage of blood and tears. The lien I can give you, you don't have to worry about that, and you don't have to do a thing except walk away. Nothing easier in the world than walking away. Three season's of lien will get your through three years, maybe more if you're careful."

"You'd give me that much?" Silver murmured.

"With how much I'm getting paid, three season's of pay is something I'm willing to part with to make this go smoothly."

"I see."

"Good." Weiss could hear the smile in the man's voice. "So… you'll walk away? Trust me, this'll be the easiest lien you ever earn. Just walk away."

"I must say, you've been polite about this," Silver said. "But I'm not walking away. I know all about people walking away when they should stay. Believe me, I wish I didn't, but I do. I'm not going anywhere."

"You'd die for someone who doesn't give a damn about folks like you or me?"

"I'm not going to be dying," Silver said, shaking her head sadly. "Look, I appreciate you trying to talk this out instead of shooting first, so I'll do the same. Now, Klein there, has a nasty bump on his head, but I can tell he isn't dead. And so far, you haven't done anything yet that could earn you a hanging. You can still walk away."

"We're not walking away without the girl."

"I figured you'd say that." Silver sighed. "You know, I became a hired hand at the ranch because I wanted to leave my killing days behind me. I should have known they'd catch up to me again." Her gaze sharpened until it could have cut. "Down at the ranch, folks call me Silver because of my eyes. But that wasn't the name my parents gave me. No, they called me Ruby."

The man behind Weiss froze. Was… was there something important about that name? Weiss wanted to ask, but it took all of her effort just to breathe.

"Silver eyes… black clothes…" the man cursed under his breath. "Son of a bitch. You're Ruby the Reaper, aren't you?"

Silver smiled thinly. "No one's called me that for almost six months now, I was hoping I could make it seven. I guess not." She pushed her coat back, and Weiss saw that like the men, she had a pair of pistols. "Now, I'm going to lay things out for you, nice and clear, as a courtesy since you've been mighty courteous to me. You're not going to take Miss Schnee. You're going to go, and I'm going to let you."

One of the men made as if to draw his gun, but a sharp shake of the other's head stopped him.

"You go for your guns, and I promise you that not a one of you will even clear the holster. There's no man or woman alive who's faster than me on the draw, and you can bet I'll be shooting to kill."

"You're bluffing," the man holding Weiss growled. "You're fast, sure, and you might even get one of us, but we're no slouches either. The other two will get you clear as day, and I doubt you have the guts to shoot me while I'm holding the girl right in front of me."

"You can doubt all you like, I'm just telling you how it's going to go." Silver shifted, moving into her stance as the others did the same. "I'm going to ask you again. Walk away. I'll let you, and if your employer asks, say I fought you off. He'll believe you. There's no shame in running when you can't win."

"You're awfully confident."

"I am." Silver looked to each of the men in turn. "You talked about making lien. You can't spend lien if you're dead. Walk away."

"Not a chance."

"Then I guess we'll be shooting then."

Weiss could barely breathe as Silver and the men faced off. None of them moved. A bead of sweat ran down the temple of one of the men, and the other looked to be fighting the urge to scratch his nose. The man behind her was tense, his body coiled and ready to burst into motion. He shifted, and his pistol went from pointing at her to pointing at Ruby.

There were three shots, so close together they might as well have been a single sustained roar. The two other men fell, shot straight though the heart, and the arm around her slackened and went limp before the man who'd been holding her toppled back. She glanced back, unable to understand, and saw that there was a hole right through the middle of his forehead.

Silver – no, her name was Ruby – slowly lowered her pistol before holstering it. Weiss hadn't even seen her move.

"I gave them a chance," Ruby murmured sadly. "I always give them a chance, but none of them ever take it."

Weiss wasn't sure what to do. She'd just seen three men killed right in front of her and –

"Hey, easy." Ruby came forward and wrapped her arms around her. Weiss all but fell into her arms, and she hated the sudden rush of tears. She wasn't some helpless, whimpering girl. She was a grown woman and –

"There's no shame in crying," Ruby murmured, holding her close. "You've never seen a man killed before. It's not nice, and it's good that you're not used to it." Ruby eased away. "And I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Weiss asked, blinking.

Ruby smiled crookedly and reached into her pocket for an old handkerchief. "I got your hair and dress messy."

Weiss realised belatedly that there was blood on her hair and her dress. There was even a bit on her cheek. "I…" Her gaze snapped to Klein. "Klein!"

She would have run to him, but Ruby held her back. "Don't. There's nothing much we can do for him now, and he wouldn't want you to panic. But I've seen this sort of thing before. He's got a nasty bump there, and it's bleeding, but he's still breathing. With some rest and good doctoring, he'll be fine." Ruby nodded firmly. "Now, it won't be long before someone comes. Those gunshots will have the law scurrying over, you mark my words. There'll be questions, lots of them. Just tell them the truth. Those men tried to grab you. I stopped them while they were distracted with Klein."

"That's not what happened," Weiss said.

"Miss Schnee, you don't get a nickname like Ruby the Reaper without getting into trouble. I'd appreciate it if we could tell things so I don't have to worry about someone coming after me."

"Oh. Uh. All right." Weiss supposed it was the least she could do.

"Just one thing," Ruby asked as her gaze drifted to where a sheriff and a pair of deputies were running down the street. "What was all this about?"

"My father," Weiss said slowly. "He's a powerful man, and powerful men have powerful enemies. Until today, I never thought any of them would do something like this. Now… well… now I know they would."

X X X 

**Author's Notes**

As always, I do not own RWBY. I'm not making any money off of this either.

Well, you folks said you wanted a Western AU, and I thought I'd deliver one. I've always had an appreciation for Westerns (perhaps my favourite novel of all time is Jack Schaefer's _Shane_ ), so the thought of RWBY in a Western setting has always been an appealing one. Now, I can't promise regular updates for this one since it's more an outsized snippet at the moment, but I'll try to get chapters posted now and again. Besides, there's something real appealing about Ruby getting to be the gunslinger, going from nice and laidback to razor sharp in an instant.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


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